Ghana has been booted out of the ongoing 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar after a painful 2:0 defeat to Uruguay at the Al Jahoud Stadium on Friday evening.[ads2]
Two goals from Georgian De Arrascaeta in the first half of the crucial game ensured Uruguay kick Ghana out of the tournament in the Asian country.
After a painful defeat to the Uruguayans in the quarterfinal of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, Ghana went into today’s game with a revenge mindset but ended the other way round for the West Africa football powerhouse.
The Black Stars started the game on a higher note which led to Kudus Mohammed being brought down in the penalty box by the Uruguay defenders and the referee whistling for a penalty.[ads3]
With all hopes on the high, Ghana skipper Andre Ayew disappointed the entire 30 million Ghanaians by missing the glorious opportunity in the 18th minute which to some extent dumped the spirit of the Ghanaian side.
The South Americans came in very strong for the opener with Darwin Nunez coming close in the 22nd minute but his strike which surpassed Ghana goalkeeper Lawrence Ati Zigi was perfectly cleared from the lines by Southampton ace Mohammed Salisu.
Unfortunately for Ghana, Flamengo attacker Georgian De Arrascaeta opened the scores for Uruguay in the 25th minute from a rebound with a terrible defending from the Ghana defence.
Six minutes later, Arrascaeta doubled the lead for the South Americans from a well-calculated strike which goalkeeper Lawrence Ati Zigi failed to save the ball from entering the net.
Ghana reorganised and started pushing. This saw Kudus Mohammed unleashing a thunderbolt strike of which it was blocked by the Uruguayan defenders.
The second half begun with coach Otto Addo throwing more men into the game by substituting Andre Ayew and his brother Jordan Ayew for Rennes attacker Kamaldeen Sulemana and Osman Bukari.[ads4]
Pellistri came close to the third goal but his strike missed the pole by inch.
In the 69th minute, Real Madrid youngster Ferdy Valverde sent in a thunderbolt but goalkeeper Lawrence Ati Zigi beautifully saved the long range strike.
Antoine Semenyo and Daniel Kofi-Kyere came in for Salis Abdul Samed and Inaki Williams.
Ghana continued to push and push but all efforts yielded no result as the game ended 2-0 for Uruguay.
Even though Uruguay won the game, the South Americans failed to progress to the knockout stage of the competition due to the fact that South Korea surprisingly defeated Cristiano Ronaldo-led Portugal side 2:1 to secure the knockout spot.
Ghana finished at the bottom of the group stage with three points while Uruguay came third with South Korea and Portugal claiming the second and first position respectively.[ads5]
